The Moral Sense Test

In a recent issue of Newsweek there were a number of articles on the brain and emotions and morality. One of the articles discussed if our morals and moral decisions are cultural or natural (i.e. if everyone in the world believes it is wrong to steal, regardless of cultural affiliation then it is a natural "instinct") or both. It is certainly some interesting stuff to ponder. After having so much training in anthropology I am inclined to say that morals and moral decisions are almost always cultural. Most anthropologists are pretty much against socio-biological determinism where our genetics solely determines who we are.

In the article they talked about the results of an online test. I took the Moral Sense Test and it certainly gave me some food for thought. I know they have different kinds of tests, but if you try it out and take the one that asks you to make decisions about whether you do something that saves five people and kills one it might seriously stress you out. Those are some tricky choices.